Govt extends Startup IP Protection scheme till 2020 to ease patent filing for startups

In a bid to streamline their processes and to avoid any ambiguity in the matter for consideration of government schemes, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has laid down the definition of a startup with following three criteria:

• The company's incorporation/registration date is under five years
• The turnover for any of the financial years has not exceeded Rs 25 crore
• The company must be working towards innovation, development, deployment, or commercialisation of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.

Notably, Innovation forms an important criterion to be considered as a startup. And it is to promote awareness and adoption of IP rights by startups, the government has also included patents in its Startup India Action Plan. To facilitate protection and commercialising of the IPRs, it will be providing access to high-quality Intellectual Property services and resources.

The plan also includes fast-track examination of patent applications and an 80 percent rebate in fees. The scheme for Startup Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) has a provision to facilitate the filing of Patents, Trademarks and Designs by innovative startups.

Running on a pilot basis initially, the startups' intellectual property protection (SIPP) scheme was in force until March 31 this year. It has now been “extended further for a period of three years”, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said.

As per the most recent status report issued on April 15, 2017, a panel of 423 facilitators for patent and design applications and 596 facilitators for Trademarks applications has been constituted for assistance in filing Intellectual Property (IP) applications and to fast track the process of patent filing and acquisition.